.
6/10/14, "The 10 most corrupt states in the U.S.," Fortune.com, Christopher Matthews
The researchers studied more than 25,000 convictions of public
officials for violation of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008
as well as patterns in state spending to develop a corruption index
that estimates the most and least corrupt states in the union. Based on
this method, the the most corrupt states are:
1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. Tennessee
4. Illinois
5. Pennsylvania
6. Alabama
7. Alaska
8. South Dakota
9. Kentucky
10. Florida
That these places landed on the list isn’t exactly surprising.
Illinois, which has gain notoriety for its high-profile corruption cases
in recent years, is paired with states like Mississippi and Louisiana,
which are some of the least economically developed in the country. The
researchers also found that for 9 out of the 10 of the most corrupt
states, overall state spending was higher than in less corrupt states
(South Dakota was the only exception). Attacking corruption, the
researchers argue, could be a good way to bring down state spending
without hurting services that people need.
Researchers also found that spending in these states was different
than their less corrupt counterparts. According to the report, “states
with higher levels of corruption are likely to favor construction,
salaries, borrowing, correction, and police protection at the expense of
social sectors such as education, health and hospitals.”
The paper explains that construction spending, especially on big
infrastructure projects, is particularly susceptible to corruption
because the quality of large, nonstandard projects are difficult for the
public to gauge, while the industry is dominated by a few monopolistic
firms. Corrupt states also tend to, for obvious reasons, simply have
more and better paid public servants, including police and correctional
officers. The researchers argue that the need for correctional officers
is greater in corrupt places too because “the overall extent of
corruption will be higher in states with higher numbers of convictions
of public officials.”
Of course, it’s not all bad news, as the study also found the least
corrupt states too. Citizens of these states–Oregon, Washington,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Vermont, Utah, New Hampshire, Colorado, and
Kansas–can take solace in the fact that they’re not getting ripped off
as badly as the rest of us."
.
========================
4/25/14, "The Impact of Public Officials’ Corruption on the Size and Allocation of U.S. State Spending," Public Administration Review
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment